Adriana Eguia Alaniz started her talk in the United States, speaking English. She ended it in Mexico, speaking Spanish.
The event name pointed to a symbol of the separation.
Crossing the border between San Diego and Tijuana takes minutes at a good time, and several hours at a bad one. But in Friendship Park, where Monument 258 stands, a stretch of fence allows for interaction without crossing. The fence here is a thick, waffle-like, metal mesh — you can see and hear through it. The TEDxMonumento258 team decided to build two stages, back-to-back, one on each side. The speaker program would alternate — a speaker on the US side, then a speaker on the Mexico side.
The format was simple. But the planning was complex. It took more than two and a half years.
The US side of Friendship Park is gated — it's guarded by US Border Patrol and is generally closed to the public. "On Saturday and Sunday, they open the outer gate for four hours and allow people to walk up to the fence and talk to relatives in Tijuana," said Lovett.
Lovett and his co-organizer Janelle Doll needed the Border Patrol's blessing to hold an event here, especially one on a weekday. That process took time. Along with Tijuana-based organizers Heberto Peterson and Ariosto Manrique, the two also worked with the mayor of San Diego, the mayor of Tijuana and both cities' "binational liaisons" to keep plans moving forward.
Still, technical challenges abounded. On the US side, Friendship Park has no power or wi-fi. Generators aren't allowed, nor are tents for shade or screens where speakers could show slides. To power the event, Lovett had to get permission to run a 400-foot extension cord from a women's bathroom in Border Field State Park, outside Friendship Park's boundary. "We might be the first TEDx event powered by a bathroom," he said.
Also difficult: getting permission to run a cable through the border fence, so that the footage shot on battery-powered cameras on the US side could be part of the event's livestream. The livestream was run through the Mexican side of Friendship Park, a public beach called Playas de Tijuana. This is where Monument 258 stands, near a lighthouse, with a backdrop of murals painted on the border fence.
Because of the constraints of the US side, the organizing team decided not to translate between English and Spanish. "We told our audience that if you're not bilingual, you are not going to understand half of what you hear," said Lovett. Instead, they sat bilingual speakers throughout the event, so they could share what was being said in each talk.
The theme for the event came easily: "Ideas without borders." Talks included a museum curator on how art transcends language, an attorney on the need for civic engagement across the border and a sommelier on how food allows for cultural exchange.
But everything ground to a halt 10 minutes before the event started.
Together, San Diego and Tijuana have a population of nearly 5 million people. Both Lovett and Peterson see the cultural exchange between the two as key.
Congratulations on an amazing initiative. However, the statement that it was "the first TEDx event organized by teams in two different countries and held simultaneously across a border" is not totally accurate. For years we have held several simultaneous TEDxSantoDomingo and TEDxPortauPrince events, including live video conversations among attendees during the breaks and with speakers from both countries traveling to speak at the other event.
Thankyou for that article, that was really enlightening.
Years ago, before the nearly solid wall severed Naco, Arizona, from Naco, Sonora, we had yearly border gatherings. Music, speeches, poetry, dancing and a cross-border potluck.
But the highlight was always the volleyball game. We put the net ON the fence, at that time a metal barrier about three feet tall. Kids, adults, seniors. Everyone played.
They were wonderful days of kindness and friendship and all of us are sorry it has been destroyed.
Thanks Kate for your article. It was a great event, an excellent experience. I Hope that in other parts of the world other TEDx Organizers can do a similar and better experience.